Leprosy control activities integration into the general health system, in the endemic area of South Gujarat region.

摘要

The National Leprosy Control Program (NLCP) was started in 1954-'55. It had separate staff and an exclusive set up, having no connection with the general health system (GHS), and was renamed as the National Leprosy Eradication Program (NLEP), in 1983, with the introduction of multidrug therapy (MDT). The program received a further drive during the World Bank-assisted first NLEP project in 1993-2000 and a second one during 2001-2004, with the objective of decentralizing NLEP responsibilities and integrating anti-leprosy activities into the GHS, in a phased manner.121 The phased implementation of MDT in the Valsad district led to a drop in the prevalence rate (PR) from 32.01 / 10,000 population in 1985, before the integration of NLEP in GHS, to 2.91 in March, 2008, after integration. Similarly, the New Case Detection Rate (NCDR) was reduced to 698 in March, 2008, from 3425, in 1985.